This ‘true story’ is an account by Sławomir Rawicz of how he, along with several others escaped a Siberian gulag and trekked across Asia to freedom. You’ll have noticed that I put ‘true story’ in inverted commas, that is because there’s been much debate at to the authenticity of this story. Some say it’s true, some say it’s true but not of Rawicz, others say it’s fiction and others think it’s a composite of various people’s memoirs. I don’t know which is correct, so I’ll just treat it like any other story.

So, after enduring plenty of graphic torture, Rawicz was sentenced to a lengthy stint in the wilderness of Siberia. The convicts were transported to Irkutsk and then made to walk 650 km to their camp. Many didn’t make it, but those that did were perhaps toughened up by this freezing trek. After about a year in the gulag, Rawicz, along with six other inmates decide they’ve had enough and manage to escape in the midst of a blizzard.

Forced to avoid all towns, they head south in the belief that the authorities won’t look for them in that direction. Foraging for food, stealing and hunting, the group make their way across the Gobi desert and Himalayas, picking up a young girl along the way in order to help her survive and find freedom. Finally they manage to seek refuge in British India.

This is certainly a far fetched tale. Rawicz claims that they walked for 11 months and covered 6500km (around 4000 miles for those who, like me prefer the old measurements). Not only the distance, but the terrain is crazy – deserts and mountains – it’s no wonder the authorities didn’t think to look there! Perhaps unsurprisingly, not everybody survived the trek. I won’t say who here, because it’s a bit of a spoiler, but already you know at least one guy who survived!

It’s written more like a factual account, rather than an emotional memoir, but it’s very easy to read and exciting throughout, whether you believe it or not. It was also the inspiration for the Hollywood film The Way Back (a disappointing film in my opinion). If you don’t believe this account, I can understand that you may not enjoy this book, finding it too outlandish and preposterous. For the record, I like to think it’s real and so I would recommend this story even if it’s taken as just that – a cracking adventure story.

Sample Text:

“The creek narrowed until it was a mere crack in the ground and here we found water collected in tiny pools in the mud. By pressing down our cupped hands, palms uppermost, we were able to drink, really to drink again, to feel water trickling down our parched throats. We drank it, sand, mud and all, in ecstasy. It was probably as well that we were prevented from gulping it down in large quantities. After each drink there was a waiting period of several minutes before the little hollows filled again with up-seeping water. My split, puffed and bleeding lips burned as the water touched them. I held the water in my mouth before swallowing and washed it about my tongue, my tender gums and aching teeth.”

Further Reading:

If you like an epic trek to freedom you might like Random Acts Of Heroic Love

If you like stories of survival against the odds you might like The Grapes Of Wrath

The Catcher In The Rye – “The trouble with me is, I like it when somebody digresses. It’s more interesting and all.”

Perhaps due to boring literature lessons in school, as a teenager I sort of fell a bit out of love with reading. The Catcher in the Rye helped reel me back in. Although it was initially written for adults, it’s characters, theme and style have appealed to teenagers ever since. The narrator is Holden Caulfield and we as readers see the world through his eyes and in his words. The novel has come under some criticism for its frequent swearing, but to my mind, it adds authenticity to the story.

The story begins as Holden is facing expulsion from his exclusive school. After arguing with his dorm-mate, Holden decides not to stay for the last few days of term and instead catches a train to New York City and checks into a hotel until he is due to return home. Here he contemplates his sexuality, as he labels other residents ‘perverts’. He goes out dancing and agrees to take a prostitute home, but feels sorry for her and subsequently decides all he wants to do with her is talk.

The next day, Holden takes an old friend out, but ends up arguing with her and becoming more depressed. Unsure what to do next Holden goes home to visit his sister Phoebe, the only person he feels can relate to him. Not wanting to see his parents, he sneaks in to talk to her, telling her of his fantasy about what he wants to do with his life. He sees himself on the edge of a cliff, in a field of Rye as sole guardian over a group of children. As the children are playing, they are in danger of falling of the edge of the cliff and Holden is responsible for being ‘The Catcher in the Rye’, the saviour of the children.

After his conversation with Phoebe, Holden once again runs away, this time to the home of his former teacher and friend Mr Antolini. They chat long into the night over several drinks and Holden is upset to wake up to find Mr Antolini stroking his hair. Freaked out by this turn of events, Holden runs away again, back to Phoebe whom he informs he is going to run away and live as a deaf -mute.

Throughout the book, we are constantly aware of Holden fragile mental state. The events described aren’t exciting, but the thought processes are. One tiny occurrence, such as picking up a book can result in a long passage about Holden’s experiences. This is confirmed at the end as Holden makes vague references to getting sick and spending time in a mental hospital. He doesn’t want to tell us much about his present state, or what is happening now, preferring to explain instead those few days following his expulsion. We are left with a sense of hope, that things will turn out ok for Holden.

This book is frequently voted onto many ‘must read’ lists and I couldn’t agree more. I’ve known people like Holden Caulfield, who’ve felt the sense of alienation and confusion. There is authenticity to this story. Moreover, it’s entertaining. The use of language adds to the flavour, giving an accurate location and time setting. It’s a great read, not just for teenagers, but not just for adults either. It’s also not too long, ending at just the right time. (I hate when books don’t know when to end!)

It’s been a few years since I last read it, but this is a book I keep going back to and probably always will. Do yourself a favour and read it if you haven’t already. I feel sorry as hell for anyone who hasn’t.

Sample Text:

“When the weather’s nice, my parents go out quite frequently and stick a bunch of flowers on old Allie’s grave. I went with them a couple of times, but I cut it out. In the first place, I don’t enjoy seeing him in that crazy cemetery. Surrounded by dead guys and tombstones and all. It wasn’t too bad when the sun was out, but twice—twice—we were there when it started to rain. It was awful. It rained on his lousy tombstone, and it rained on the grass on his stomach. It rained all over the place. All the visitors that were visiting the cemetery started running like hell over to their cars. That’s what nearly drove me crazy. All the visitors could get in their cars and turn on their radios and all and then go someplace nice for dinner—everybody except Allie. I couldn’t stand it. I know it’s only his body and all that’s in the cemetery, and his soul’s in Heaven and all that crap, but I couldn’t stand it anyway. I just wished he wasn’t there.”

Further Reading:

If you enjoy stories of disaffected youth you might like The Outsiders

If you like stories about mentally unstable youth you might like The Bell Jar

If you like the authentic use of the American dialect you might like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

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]]>https://bookshq.wordpress.com/2015/08/04/draft-the-catcher-in-the-rye-jd-salinger/feed/0helenqThe Catcher In The Rye - "The trouble with me is, I like it when somebody digresses. It’s more interesting and all.”The Interpretation Of Murder – Jed Rubenfeldhttps://bookshq.wordpress.com/2015/07/27/draft-the-interpretation-of-murder-jed-rubenfeld/
https://bookshq.wordpress.com/2015/07/27/draft-the-interpretation-of-murder-jed-rubenfeld/#respondMon, 27 Jul 2015 19:14:49 +0000http://bookshq.wordpress.com/?p=224

The Interpretation of Murder – I’m a bit unsure why Freud is there at all!

I love the idea of this book – a murder mystery including real people in a fictional setting. I really enjoyed about the first three quarters of it, but then somehow, I got a bit bored. All of a sudden it seemed a bit daft and disjointed and I didn’t really see the point of it. Overall, I think I liked it, but it’s not quite as clever as it should be.

The basic premise is a murder mystery based in New York in 1909. A sadistic killer is bumping of high society girls and the mayor, coroner and detective must solve the case. Alongside this, Dr Younger, our part-time narrator is hosting his hero, Sigmund Freud and his entourage, including Carl Jung in the U.S. This part is based on fact, Freud did indeed visit the States in 1909 and returned to Europe with a strong aversion to ever returning. Why he hated the States I don’t know, but this novel attempts to give us a reason, albeit fictional.

Younger is asked to help treat one of the killers victims, Nora Acton, who has survived but has no voice or memory of her attack. With Freud’s help, Younger attempts to psychoanalyse her and help restore her memory, thus helping the law men solve the case. This bit’s all good, there’s twists and turns and it keeps you guessing until the end who the killer is. Don’t worry, I wouldn’t tell you here, I’m not that mean.

Yet there’s a couple of side stories that are really surplus to requirements. Firstly is Freud’s ongoing feud with Jung, who is painted particularly unsympathetically here. Whilst it’s an interesting relationship, it has no relevance on the story whatsoever and seems there only to serve the purpose of including Freud in the book. Freud himself has little impact on the murder case and seems there only to add a slant to a good old murder mystery tale. It doesn’t really need that slant.

Secondly, Younger has an obsession with ‘solving’ Hamlet. What does the ‘to be or not to be’ speech really mean, why did Hamlet talk but not act? What relevance does this all have to our murder mystery story? None really, except it gives a reason to talk more about Oedipus. There’s just no reason to include any of this into the novel and yet I quite liked that it was there, as if Dr Younger was preoccupied with his own self-indulgent studies and not really concentrating on the case. This perhaps makes him a more believable character. I suspect really that Rubenfeld was preoccupied with his own studies and not really concentrating on the plot, but I didn’t really mind that.

What I did mind was the last few chapters. There was a build up throughout the whole book and then in the space of a few pages, everything is neatly wrapped up pretty unconvincingly. I swear I could hear the author thinking ‘crap, this is turning into a pretty long book, I’d better finish it quickly!’

And yet, I still think I liked it. There was a number of characters introduced who I couldn’t remember and it turned out I needed to remember them. The plot’s a bit scattered and the romance element unconvincing, it clearly thinks it’s cleverer than it is, and yet…I think I’m just a sucker for a good mystery! There’s no other explanation.

Sample Text:

“There is no mystery to happiness. Unhappy men are all alike. Some wound they suffered long ago, some wish denied, some blow to pride, some kindling spark of love put out by scorn — or worse, indifference — cleaves to them, or they to it, and so they live each day within a shroud of yesterdays. The happy man does not look back. He doesn’t look ahead. He lives in the present.”

Further Reading:

If you like a good historical mystery you might like The Shadow Of The Wind

If you like fictional books about real people you might like The English Patient

“Armageddon was yesterday, today we have a serious problem.” The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

I finally gave in and read this book after resisting for quite a while. It seemed everybody I spoke to had recommended it and I kind of backed away, thinking after all that hype I’d only be disappointed. I’m happy to say I wasn’t. I was hooked straight away.

The basic storyline is this: an old man (Henrik Vanger) has been receiving strange birthday cards from his grand-niece who has been missing, presumed dead for 40 odd years. Before he dies he wants to know what happened to her and so he hires Mikael Blomkvist, an investigative magazine publisher to investigate the case. After a while, Blomkvist realises he needs an assistant and so hires Lisbeth Salander – an expert computer hacker. Ok, so the basic premise is a bit of a whodunit – a classic investigation story into a shadowy family history.

What makes this book stand out is Salander. She is a wonderful creation, anti-social misfit that she is. Declared legally incompetent as a child, she has been under the care of a legal guardian ever since. Initially this is the kindly avuncular Holger Palmgren, replaced after suffering a stroke with the sinister Nils Bjurman, who subjects her to vile sexual abuse. Salander is very introverted and doesn’t make friends easily. In many ways she’s child-like, in character as well as appearance, but she’s also hard as nails and incredibly determined. Her mental state is never clearly defined, perhaps she does suffer from Asperger’s Syndrome, or maybe she’s just so traumatised from her childhood that she has retreated from normal life.

It’s a modern take on an old theme, romance and relationships are pretty unconventional, technology is used as a great tool throughout, but don’t worry, you don’t need to understand computers at all to appreciate this, and politics and commerce plays a part too.

The book is relatively long but will have you hooked from the beginning. That is, except the chapter near the beginning – I think it’s chapter two – which explains the Vanger family history. That’s kind of boring, and may put some people off continuing with the book, but don’t let it, the rest is compelling, though a lot more violent than I had anticipated. The violence however, is necessary in order to tell the story, you’ll see what I mean if you read the rest of the trilogy. (This is the first book in the Millennium Series – Millennium being the name of the magazine Blomkvist publishes.)

So basically, what I’m trying to say is this, next time somebody tells you to read this book, listen to them. In this case folks, believe the hype, it’s a very good book.

Sample Text:

“I’ve had many enemies over the years. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s never engage in a fight you’re sure to lose. On the other hand, never let anyone who has insulted you get away with it. Bide your time and strike back when you’re in a position of strength—even if you no longer need to strike back.”

Further Reading:

If you like the characters you might like The Girl Who Played With Fire

If you like the Scandinavian atmosphere you might like Out Stealing Horses

If you like violent tales of a social misfit you might like The Wasp Factory

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]]>https://bookshq.wordpress.com/2015/06/09/draft-the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-stieg-larsson/feed/0helenq“Armageddon was yesterday, today we have a serious problem.” The Girl With The Dragon TattooZlata’s Diary: A Child’s Life In Wartime Sarajevo – Zlata Filipovićhttps://bookshq.wordpress.com/2015/05/05/draft-zlatas-diary-a-childs-life-in-wartime-sarajevo-zlata-filipovic/
https://bookshq.wordpress.com/2015/05/05/draft-zlatas-diary-a-childs-life-in-wartime-sarajevo-zlata-filipovic/#respondTue, 05 May 2015 16:25:10 +0000http://bookshq.wordpress.com/?p=268

Zlata’s Diary – a true account of life in wartorn Sarajevo by Zlata Filipovic

Yet again, I must confess to buying this book for purely shallow reasons. I used to work in a charity shop and this book sat on the shelf for so long that I began to feel sorry for it and so bought it myself. This isn’t a novel, but a diary kept between 1991 and 1993 by Zlata Filipović, an 11 year old girl (born in 1980) living in Sarajevo during the Bosnian war.

Zlata is a normal girl who’s greatest worries include whether or not to join the Madonna fan club. She received a diary for her 11th birthday and decided to write in it daily, inspired by Adrian Mole! Shortly after her birthday that all changes as war breaks out. Day by day she documents how life changes all around her. Family friends flee as ethnic tensions erupt all around. One day her school is closed, the next day the bombs start.

In many ways, this is similar to Anne Frank’s Diary. It’s a true account of a young girl stuck in the middle of a war, with her diary as her closest remaining friend. Unlike Anne Frank, Zlata never went into hiding. Her family continued to live in their home until 1993 when foreign journalists took an interest in her diary, highlighting her cause and prompting the United Nations to help them escape to Paris.

Unlike Anne Frank, it’s not entirely clear who the bad guys are here. Zlata herself finds the whole political situation too convoluted to explain or understand, just hoping that the shells don’t land within 50metres of her home. There’s a particular entry about when Zlata goes to visit her grandparents, racing across a dangerous bridge before the shelling begins again that struck home how lucky my life has been.

These innocent people lived for years in a war zone, with no water, electricity, freedom or way out. It’s not a particularly well known book, but it’s well written. Zlata is clearly intelligent and articulate, though sometimes the translation fells a bit clunky. If you have any interest in war diaries or the Balkan Wars then I’d definitely recommend reading this. Also, I’d recommend it to anybody who needs reminding how lucky their childhood was.

Sample Text:

“Monday, March 15, 1993

There are no trees to blossom and no birds, because the war has destroyed them as well. There is no sound of birds twittering in springtime. There aren’t even any pigeons – the symbol of Sarajevo. No noisy children, no games. Even the children no longer seem like children. They’ve had their childhood taken from them, and without that they can’t be children. It’s as if Sarajevo is slowly dying, disappearing. Life is disappearing. So how can I feel spring, when spring is something that awakens life, and here there is no life, here everything seems to have died.”

Further Reading:

If you like childhood war diaries you might like The Diary Of Anne Frank

Guernica by Dave Boling. War, romance, comedy and horror. What more can you want?

The bombing of Guernica is rightly recognised as one of the most shocking and inhumane raids in modern warfare. The German Luftwaffe dropped bombs on a defenceless civilian population, allegedly for experimental purposes. As many facts and figures as history books can tell us, as many horrors as they describe, we read with a slightly detached view. By introducing individual characters, people who have a back story and a future and a family and a personality can we understand how it would feel to be part of such devastation.

To this end, Boling introduces us to brothers, Justo, Josepe and Xabier. We follow their family history from childhood through to old age. Justo Courts a local beauty and has a daughter Miren who falls in love with Miguel, who has been smuggled into Guernica by Josepe after a fight with the Guardia. These are all likeable characters, as are the other townfolk we meet along the way, which only adds to the sense of foreboding throughout. (Come on, you didn’t really think a book about Guernica was going to end happily did you?!)

For some people this may be a cynical attempt to use real tragedy to pull at the heartstrings, but I found it genuinely moving. Boling has humanised the suffering and created an engaging and romantic story along the way. There are many books out there with similar themes, some boring, some beautiful, but this is not one to be missed.

Sample Text:

“Reporters wanted to define the event with numbers. But Father Xabier was unable to.

“When you see burned children, laying in the street, charred…melted, you don’t count them,” Xabier said. “When you see a group of boys fused into a blackened mass, you don’t take an inventory. How many died? How many? Death was infinite.”

]]>https://bookshq.wordpress.com/2015/04/12/guernica-dave-boling/feed/0helenqGuernica by Dave Boling. War, romance, comedy and horror. What more can you want?The Grapes Of Wrath – John Steinbeckhttps://bookshq.wordpress.com/2015/03/05/draft-the-grapes-of-wrath-john-steinbeck/
https://bookshq.wordpress.com/2015/03/05/draft-the-grapes-of-wrath-john-steinbeck/#respondThu, 05 Mar 2015 12:04:06 +0000http://bookshq.wordpress.com/?p=265

“Why, Tom – us people will go on livin’ when all them people is gone. Why, Tom, we’re the people that live. They ain’t gonna wipe us out. Why, we’re the people – we go on.’ The Grapes Of Wrath

The Grapes of Wrath is the story of the Joad family and is set during the Great Depression. The Joads are ‘Okies’ – poor farmers, displaced and desperately seeking work, as their farms were repossessed after crop failure due to the Dust Bowl. The story begins with Tom Joad, who has just been released from prison. Upon returning home is surprised to find nobody there, and very few people for miles around. he learns that his family has gone out west, to California, to seek a future for themselves and so he sets off to catch them up.

Setting off with his friend, Jim Casy, Tom soon catches up with the rest of his family – Ma and Pa Joad, Uncle John, Tom’s brothers Al, Noah and Winfield, his sisters Ruthie and pregnant Rose Of Sharon, Rose Of Sharon’s husband Connie and Grampa and Granma Joad. Together they set off for California, believing in the promise of work. What they discover is that the roads are packed with people just like them looking for exactly the same things – dignity, hope and a future.

It won’t really spoil the book to let you know that not all of them make it to California, and those that do find it doesn’t live up to all their expectations. Competition for work is fierce and bosses are ruthless, immoral and greedy. As soon as I began reading this story, I knew things weren’t going to work out too well for the Joads, there’s a sense of doom throughout as their utter desperation and misery develops. Yet they are a family who will stick together and never give up hope.

It’s not a fun read, but it’s an important subject matter. In a powerful first world country, citizens are, not only allowed, but compelled to live like this. Yes, it’s fiction, but it’s based on fact. Steinbeck lived in California during the Depression and witnessed the treatment of migrant workers. This inspired him to write The Grapes Of Wrath, as he himself said

“I want to put a tag of shame on the greedy bastards who are responsible for this [the Great Depression and its effects].” He famously said, “I’ve done my damndest to rip a reader’s nerves to rags,”

And he does. By the end, I was left with a deep sense of hopelessness. The Joad’s ordeal is relentless, there’s no neat happy endings here. Despair follows heartache follows sorrow. And yet, they still manage to keep a glimmer of hope alive, I suppose there’s just no other option. Because of their determination this isn’t as depressing to read as it could be. Of course, the subject matter is depressing, but the writing style keeps you interested throughout. It’s an important book and one that has rightly been voted onto many ‘miust read’ lists. It is quite long and I’d certainly make sure you begin reading it whilst you’re in the right mood, but you won’t regret picking it up, however heartbroken you may be by the end.

Sample Text:

“I know, Ma. I’m a-tryin’. But them deputies- Did you ever see a deputy that didn’t have a fat ass? An’ they waggle their ass an’ flop their gun aroun’. Ma”, he said, “if it was the law they was workin’ with, why we could take it. But it ain’t the law. They’re a-working away at our spirits. They’re a-tryin’ to make us cringe an’ crawl like a whipped bitch. They’re tryin’ to break us. Why, Jesus Christ, Ma, they comes a time when the on’y way a fella can keep his decency is by takin’ a sock at a cop. They’re working on our decency”.”

Further Reading:

If you like stories set during the Great Depression you might like Their Eyes Were Watching God

If you like this author you might like Of Mice And Men

If you like following a family through all their trials and hardships you might like The Sound And The Fury

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]]>https://bookshq.wordpress.com/2015/03/05/draft-the-grapes-of-wrath-john-steinbeck/feed/0helenq“Why, Tom - us people will go on livin' when all them people is gone. Why, Tom, we're the people that live. They ain't gonna wipe us out. Why, we're the people - we go on.' The Grapes Of WrathThe Boy In The Striped Pyjamas – John Boynehttps://bookshq.wordpress.com/2015/01/18/draft-the-boy-in-the-striped-pyjamas-john-boyne/
https://bookshq.wordpress.com/2015/01/18/draft-the-boy-in-the-striped-pyjamas-john-boyne/#respondSun, 18 Jan 2015 18:19:19 +0000http://bookshq.wordpress.com/?p=315

“We’re not supposed to be friends, you and me. We’re meant to be enemies. Did you know that? ” The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas

Apparently the first draft of this book was written in just 3 days. I have to say that doesn’t entirely surprise me. It’s not that I don’t think the book is good, it’s just not the sort of story which demands a whole lot of research. It’s subject matter is pretty straightforward and it’s style is quite simplistic. At times, it’s a bit too simplistic for my liking, written as it is from the perspective of a 9 year old German boy during WW2. There were times when I had to remind myself that kids then were a lot more innocent and naïve than they are today, but still I felt as if Bruno, our protagonist, seemed younger than 9.

Bruno is fortunate in that he is the son of an eminent Nazi commandant. I know it seems a contradiction in terms, but as we see his father through Bruno’s eyes we don’t see a murderous monster, more a hardworking father. Bruno is totally innocent to what is happening around him, he just knows his father is ‘one to watch’. When the Fuhrer (misheard by Bruno as the Fury) sends the commandant to Auschwitz, (misheard as ‘Out-With’) he takes the whole family to live next to the camp.

Bruno is bored here, without any friends and so decides to explore his side of the fence. He walks for an hour or so until he finds another 9 year old boy, Shmuel, on the other side. Shmuel is skinny and dirty, but the two boys start talking and become friends. Bruno doesn’t understand what is happening at Auschwitz and nobody will discuss it with him. He just wants to either go back to Berlin, or to be able to play with Shmuel. This innocence in the face of evil is the real crux of the story and leads us to the tragic conclusion.

It’s interesting to see the different depictions of the Nazis. The portrayal of Bruno’s father, though not affectionate, is not unkind either. It’s important to remember that some of these men were ordinary working, family men, brainwashed and pressed into evil doings. Of course, there were those who were naturally evil, who relished in the work at the camps. These are shown through the character of Lieutenant Kotler. He is not in any way fundamental to the story, but adds atmosphere and menace throughout. There is even a chapter in which Hitler and Eva Braun feature. She is depicted a quite a nice character, he as the ignorant, self-important , arrogant ‘Fury’.

It’s a pretty easy book to read, it took me three short evenings. For that reason it’s good for young adults as well as adults. It’s the sort of book that should be read, even though I think there are better books on this subject matter. There’s a sweet innocence to Bruno, and a heart-breaking stoicism to Shmuel. Life has beaten him down and stolen his innocence, yet he won’t confide in Bruno, thus protecting his.

The way this book is written, naively and simplistically also helps to preserve the readers innocence. Is that a good thing when talking about the Holocaust? Perhaps it is making the subject matter more accessible to children, but for me, it seemed a bit too much like dumbing down.

Sample Text:

“Very slowly he turned his head back to look at Shmuel, who wasn’t crying anymore, merely staring at the floor and looking as if he was trying to convince his soul not to live inside his tiny body anymore, but to slip away and sail to the door and rise up into the sky, gliding through the clouds until it was very far away.”

Further Reading:

If you like reading about a child’s experience of war you might like Zlata’s Diary

If you liked the idea of preserving a child’s innocence in the face of evil you might like Room

If you like reading about the fate of children under the Nazis you might like Farewell Sidonia

If you like

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]]>https://bookshq.wordpress.com/2015/01/18/draft-the-boy-in-the-striped-pyjamas-john-boyne/feed/0helenq"We're not supposed to be friends, you and me. We're meant to be enemies. Did you know that? ” The Boy In The Striped PyjamasThe Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman – Louis de Bernièreshttps://bookshq.wordpress.com/2014/12/14/draft-the-troublesome-offspring-of-cardinal-guzman-louis-de-bernieres/
https://bookshq.wordpress.com/2014/12/14/draft-the-troublesome-offspring-of-cardinal-guzman-louis-de-bernieres/#respondSun, 14 Dec 2014 13:24:02 +0000http://bookshq.wordpress.com/?p=290

The Troublesome Offspring Of Cardinal Guzman – Louis de Bernières

Like the previous two books in this trilogy, most of the action here is set in Cochadebajo de los Gatos and concerns the affectionately portrayed locals. Whereas the first book (The War Of Don Emmanuel’s Nether Parts) is concerned primarily with politics and the second (Senor Vivo And The Coca Lord) is centred around the drugs trade, this final instalment in the trilogy focuses on religion.

Following on from the fame of Dionisio in Senor Vivo And the Coca Lord, the Catholic Church and the Cardinal in particular decide they need to root out the heretics and begin a new Inquisition, with Cochadebajo as their ultimate target. Perhaps this is a backlash to the unstable society or, more likely, it is prompted by Cardinal Guzman’s own guilt.

Guzman isn’t a bad man, but he isn’t a chaste man either. He has a very loyal and affectionate maid and a surprisingly tender relationship with their illegitimate son, Cristobal. Guzman is well aware of his hypocrisy, in having this child and his guilt manifests itself physically, causing him great pain, illness and hallucinations.

Guzman is colourful creation, but so are all the characters here. As a book it can be read by itself, but is much better read as part of the trilogy, favourite characters return and more are introduced as the sub-plots weave themselves through the main narrative. Following on from the rest of the South American trilogy, there is a lot of magical realism throughout, as well as romance, violence and humour.

Out of all three, this is probably my least favourite book, but that’s not to say I don’t like it, rather that the other two were just stronger, more original and held my interest slightly better. I still thoroughly enjoyed this though and was sorry the trilogy had to come to an end. If, like most people I’ve spoken to, you’ve come to de Bernières through Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, then this trilogy will be quite a surprise to you. It’s still clearly de Bernières, with his wonderful character creations and vivid descriptions of war in one paragraph, romance in the next, but this trilogy is more comedic, perhaps more cartoony if one was being hyper-critical, but equally as entertaining and enthralling.

Sample text:

“His Eminence looked at the desk in his room and saw that it had become a rotten coffin through whose distorted boards there sprouted verminous cascades of ancient hair that waved like the tentacles of an anemone. There was no doubt that the grey wisps were growing apace and were winding about the furniture. A hank of it curled about his ankle and began to constrict it like a boa. He shouted, pulling his leg away, but the force reduced the casket to dust, and on the floor where his desk had been, there was now a cadaver watching him. The skin was shrunk over the bones like an Indian mummy, the hair was growing with the speed of a stream, and the amber teeth of the mouth smiled at him with contemptuous inanity.”

I’m not gonna lie to you, I first picked up this book because I like Gogol Bordello and found out they were named after this author. I googled the author, thought this book sounded interesting and downloaded it to my Kindle. I wish I could tell you that I was just interested in Gogol’s satirical representation of Soviet mentality, but the truth I just like pop music.

Saying that, I did genuinely like the storyline here. The basic premise is this: Chichikov is a fraudster. That’s not a spoiler by the way, we are privy to this information from the beginning. He travels around Russia buying up ‘dead souls’. “What are they?” I hear you cry. Settle down, I’m about to tell you… Ok, so at the time it was legal to own serfs to work on your land. You didn’t have to pay these serfs, but you did have to pay tax on them. Obviously, once they were dead you no longer had to pay tax but you only got one census each year to declare them dead.

What Chichikov does is this, he buys the names of the dead off other landowners meaning they no longer have to pay the tax on them, Chichikov does. This makes the farmers very happy. It also makes Chichikov very happy as he builds up an impressive list of these dead souls, giving the banks the impression that he is a very wealthy, landed gentleman. The banks then agree to lend him heaps of cash, which, of course he has no intention of paying back, as he will declare all his serfs dead by the time the next tax year rolls around. He can then legally avoid paying back the banks, making him very very happy.

So that’s the basic premise. I like it, it’s sneaky, clever, dark and filled with some grotesque characters. Like pretty much all other Russian literature I’ve read, it’s a bit too long, but as Gogol died whilst writing part 2, the story ends mid sentence. Seriously, there’s not even a full stop at the end. It doesn’t matter though as the story is pretty much wrapped up by that point. It did thankfully prevent Gogol writing the follow up in which the Russians redeemed themselves. That would have been far too pious and far less interesting.

If you’re a fan of Russian literature then I would recommend this. If you just fancy trying something different, I would also recommend it, but if you’re after a little light reading, probably best to steer clear, it is 19th Century Russia after all.

Sample Text:

“It is well-known that there are many faces in the world over the finishing of which nature did not take much trouble, did not employ any fine tools such as files, gimlets, and so on, but simply hacked them out with round strokes: one chop-a nose appears; another chop-lips appear; eyes are scooped out with a big drill; and she lets it go into the world rough-hewn, saying: “ALIVE!”